👤 By the CinnaRN Clinical Content Team🕐 Updated 2026-08-23🏷️ Reduction of Risk Potential🔖 Free to read, print, and share
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Use this quick-reference guide to spot, treat, and prevent IV Therapy Complications on the NCLEX. Keep it handy during review and on exam day!
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📒 The 1-minute cheat sheet
📌 Infiltration
Cool, pale, swollen, ↓ flow
Stop, remove, elevate
📌 Phlebitis
Warm, red, tender cord
Discontinue, restart elsewhere
🚩 Emergency
Vesicant extravasation → necrosis
Pus, fever, red streaks = infection
📚 IV Therapy Complications — full study notes
The cheat sheet above is your quick recall card. These notes go deeper — what it is, what to do first, what must be reported, and what to teach.
Peripheral IVs can fail or cause local injury. Distinguishing infiltration (fluid in tissue), phlebitis (vein inflammation), and infection guides the right response.
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Key points
Understand these first
Cool, pale, swollen, ↓ flow
Stop, remove, elevate
Warm, red, tender cord
Discontinue, restart elsewhere
Vesicant extravasation → necrosis
Pus, fever, red streaks = infection
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Nursing priorities
What to do, in order
Stop the infusion and remove the catheter for infiltration or phlebitis.
Restart in a new site; document and monitor.
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Red flags — report now
Escalate immediately
A vesicant infiltration (extravasation) can cause tissue necrosis — stop immediately and follow the antidote protocol.
Purulent drainage, fever, or streaking = infection — culture and notify.
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Patient teaching
What patients must know
Infiltration = cool, pale, swollen, slowed flow → stop and remove, elevate, warm or cool per solution.
Phlebitis = warm, red, tender cord along the vein → discontinue and restart elsewhere.
❓ IV Therapy Complications: NCLEX FAQs
What are the priority nursing interventions for IV Therapy Complications?
Stop the infusion and remove the catheter for infiltration or phlebitis. Restart in a new site; document and monitor.
What are the warning signs of IV Therapy Complications a nurse must report?
A vesicant infiltration (extravasation) can cause tissue necrosis — stop immediately and follow the antidote protocol. Purulent drainage, fever, or streaking = infection — culture and notify.
What do I need to know about IV Therapy Complications for the NCLEX?